Digvijaya refuses to take blame for Mayawati's Congress snub
New Delhi, Oct 3 : As BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday ruled out an alliance with the Congress for the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assembly elections, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said he stood by his comments that she was under the Centres pressure not to ally with his party.
Digvijaya Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, also dismissed Mayawati's accusation that he had "sabotaged" the BSP-Congress alliance.
Mayawati had denied Digvijaya's claims that she was under a "lot of pressure from the Centre because of which she did not want an alliance with the Congress".
The senior Congress leader pointed out that the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had earlier made her intentions clear by announcing an electoral pact with Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh for the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh.
"When Mayawati addressed a press conference with Jogi (September 20), she categorically said that she will not align with the Congress and went ahead to declare her party's alliance with Jogi and even announced contesting 22 seats in Madhya Pradesh unilaterally," Singh told a TV channel.
Asked if his statement on Mayawati triggered her latest snub, Singh said: "Nationally, central agencies have been let loose to suppress the voices of every political party or person who is not with the BJP or has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his government."
The Congress leader added: "We will be very happy if we have an alliance with the BSP. At the national level, I have always supported the idea that all parties opposed to the BJP-RSS ideology should come together to defeat them."
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RCB pip CSK by two runs in last-ball IPL thriller
Bengaluru: Ayush Mhatre's 94 and Ravindra Jadeja's 77 not out went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru pipped Chennai Super Kings by two runs in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Chasing 214, CSK scored 211 for 5 in their 20 overs.
Mhatre scored a 48-ball 94 with five sixes and nine fours while adding 114 runs with Jadeja (77 not out off 45 balls, 8x4s, 2x6s) for the second wicket.
For RCB, Lungi Ngidi returned with figures of 3/30.
Earlier, half-centuries from Jacob Bethell (55), Virat Kohli (62) and Romario Shepherd (53 not out) took RCB to 213 for five.
While Bethell and Kohli put on 97 runs for the opening wicket to set a platform, Shepherd blasted four fours and six sixes to make 53 not out off only 14 balls, recording the fastest fifty of the season and joint second-fastest overall.
For CSK, Matheesha Pathirana found his rhythm and lengths to return 3-0-36-3.
Brief scores:
RCB: 213 for 5 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 55, Virat Kohli 62, Romario Shepherd 53 not out; Matheesha Pathirana 3/36).
CSK: 211 for 5 in 20 overs (Ayush Mhatre 94, Ravindra Jadeja 77 not out; Lungi Ngidi 3/30).
